Crown seeking prison time for Winnipeg man who left elderly mom to die

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The Crown is asking for prison time for a Winnipeg man who pleaded guilty to criminal negligence in the death of his mom.

Ron Siwicki was originally charged with manslaughter in the 2014 death of his 89-year-old mom.  His case was scheduled to go to trial but in January Siwicki pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of criminal negligence.

READ: Man accused of leaving his mother on the floor to die granted bail

During his sentencing hearing Tuesday the Crown said Betty Siwicki’s passing in their Garden City home that winter was a ‘death that could have been prevented’.

Betty fell from her bed in November, 2014 and Siwicki was unable to lift her up. Rather than calling anyone for help, her son left her lying beside the bed for weeks until she died.

The Crown compared the injuries “akin to euthanizing someone by a baseball bat.”

It’s asking Siwicki be sentenced to 36 months, minus the month served after his arrest.

The defence has asked for a community-based sentence.

Court has previously heard Betty had been living with dementia, but it’s unclear what stage her disease was in as she hadn’t been to see a doctor in at least two years.

After her fall Siwicki covered her with a blanket and fed her nutritional drinks rather than calling for help or getting her medical treatment.

READ: Winnipeg man pleads guilty to criminal negligence in death of elderly mother

Following his guilty plea in January defence lawyer Mike Cook said he should have done more.

“It was our considered legal opinion that the standard of care that he provided to his mom was substandard to what the reasonable man would have done,”  Cook said.

“His mom had said to him ‘Ronnie I don’t want to go to the hospital. Keep me at home. Take care of me at home’ and Ron had lived with his mom his entire lifetime,” Cook said.

“He was still very attentive to his mom. He provided her with food (and) hydration. He took care of her basic needs but it got to a point where he was overwhelmed and he should have done more. He should have called for professional help.

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Siwicki will be back in court July 10.